Jennifer Conrad

Title:

"I think that students can get a lot more out of the UNC Kenan-Flagler program because it's somewhat smaller than most top-flight business schools."

Research, teaching and impact on business

Conrad conducts research about investments. She looks for patterns in equity returns to see whether stock prices move as theoretical pricing models suggest they should. In particular, she examines whether the ordinary investor can make a big killing in the stock market by using particular trading rules.

“We start out being a little skeptical,” she says. “I think it’s pretty hard to make excess profits in the stock market. If it were easy, we would all do it.”

As part of her research, Conrad also studies the execution strategies and costs of major institutional investors. She looks at how they try to cut their execution costs through different practices. And she explores whether their trading strategies inadvertently lead to higher costs because of their large size.

What makes the UNC Kenan-Flagler student experience special

Conrad stresses the school's close coordination of courses and curriculum, particularly in the first semester. She also thinks that students can get a lot more out of the UNC Kenan-Flagler program because it's somewhat smaller than most top-flight business schools. “It's less likely that students will fall between the cracks,” she says.

Something personal

Conrad doesn't have much time for hobbies, but she likes to run a little and read a lot. Formerly “addicted” to the Food Network, she and her family like cooking different ethnic foods together — rather, they like cooking, and she likes eating.